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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2001
TAMPA -- South Florida quarterback Marquel Blackwell broke Chad Barnhardt's school records for attempts and completions in a season during the first quarter Saturday against Liberty. Blackwell, who was 18-for-35 for 291 yards, has 200 completions in 353 attempts. Barnhardt was 186-for-326 in 1997, USF's inaugural season.
Blackwell also had four touchdown passes, raising his season total to 17 and tying Barnhardt's 1998 record. Next up: yards. Blackwell has 2,192; Barnhardt had 2,362 in 1997.
HE'S BACK: Redshirt freshman Alex Herron started at center for the first time since Sept. 8 at Pittsburgh. Herron missed five games with a knee injury. His return moved Jimmy Fitts back to right guard.
Tchecoy Blount started at defensive tackle for Tavares Jurineack (ankle) and Jason Allen started at strong-side linebacker for Maurice Jones (shoulder). USF usually replaced Allen with an extra defensive back.
INJURY REPORT: Blount twisted his left ankle. He did not miss playing time but walked off the field with a significant limp. ... Defensive end Chris Daley sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and did not return.
EXTRA SPECIAL: Special-teams standout Javan Camon helped pin Liberty deep in its territory late in the first quarter. Camon caught Devin Sanderson's punt on the short hop at the 3. It didn't matter, as Liberty marched 97 yards to tie the score at 14.
EXTRA LONG: The 97-yard drive was the longest against the Bulls, surpassing 96- and 94-yard drives by Hofstra in 1998. It was second-longest in Liberty history.
YOUR TURN: Liberty replaced starting quarterback Biff Parson with J.K. Scott at the start of the second quarter. Scott was sacked on his first play by safety Joe Morgan, and he threw three interceptions in the quarter. Parson returned in the third quarter.
MY TURN: Backup tight end Casey Cobb made the first reception of his career in the third quarter, a 16-yarder.
CLOSING IN: USF sophomore safety J.R. Reed intercepted his fourth pass in the second quarter, moving him within one of the single-season school record shared by Anthony Henry and Roy Manns.
POOR PUNTING: Liberty used two punters in the first half, Noah Crouch and Jay Kelly, and neither was effective. The Flames punted four times in the half for a 27.3-yard average. A bad snap on Liberty's first punt attempt was recovered by USF deep in Flames territory and led to the game's first score.
PROBLEMATICA: USF kicker Santiago Gramatica missed three extra points and has five misses this season. The final one was from 50 yards because of two 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
FREEBIES: Free tickets to the Nov. 10 game against Western Illinois are available to military, police and firefighter/rescue personnel. They can be picked up from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the Sun Dome box office.
-- PETE YOUNG, SHARON GINN